Ottaviano gori and philip ernst



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTAVIANO GORI AND PHILIP ERNST, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANOFORTE.

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 3,504, dated March 26, 1844.

To all LU/wm 25 may concern Be it known that we, Orravnmo Goni, artist, and PHILIP ERNST, professor of music, both of the city, county, and State of New York, and both aliens, resident more than one year preceding the date hereof in the United States, and who have each respectively and duly made oath ef our intention to become citizens of the United States, have invented and made and applied to use certain new and useful improvements in the construction and means of giving sound to pianofortes, the main feature of the said improvements being the substitution of glass musical notes in place of wire notes and placing the same either above or beneath the hammers, or both above and beneath the hammers and using glass only to give the sound or combining beth glass and wire as notes, for which we seek Letters Patent of the United States, and that the said improvements are fully and substantially set forth and shown in the following description and in the drawings anneXed to and making part of this specification, wherein- Figure l, represents a mode of placing oblong squares of glass, above the action parts of a pianoforte, so that they are struck by an upward action of the hammers, and Fig. 2, represents a mede of placing the oblong square, of glass, below the action parts, s0 that they shall be struck by a downward action of the hammer.

In Fig. l a, a, are the sectional ends of a pair of wood or metal bearing rods, lying longitudinally of the instrument, above the action parts, b, is a note, formed of an oblong plane of glass, drilled through, to reeeive two small wire rods c, c, the upper ends of which are secured in the bearing rods a., a. The lower ends have nuts, by which the glass note is sustained, and at the same time, regulated in the proper vertical position, above the hammer (l.

In Fig. 2, e, e, are bearers, or standards, of wood, or metal,"covered with leather or any other fit substance that will not deaden the sound; f, f, are planes of glass, lying on the bearers in a situation for the downward action of the hammer g, to act on one of them. The glass notes are also shown as suspended on strings z', which may be wire, of any lit kind, or threads of linen, silk, cotton, or woolen, or any combination 0f these substances, on any of which the notes are to be retained, by a small portion of elastic glue, made in the proportion of one ounce of good common liquid glue, t two ounces of molasses, half an ounce of pure flour, and half an ounce of water, mixed and forming a viscid paste, which will only dry so far, as to become an adhesive, tenacious, and elastic substance. Sugar may be used instead of molasses, but we have found the latter preferable` h The Fig. 3, is a tabular statement of the sizes, in which we have found, that glass, of the average quality, will give out the notes indicated against the given length, width, and thickness, of the piece employed; and although we have found variations from an absolute certainty in the production of the required notes, yet these have been caused by variations in the quality of the glass, in the same way, as variations are frequently found, in the quality of wire employed for musical purposes; the table shows the range we have obtained is from F, below the staff a total of four octaves and live notes, in glass. The semitones are not represented, as these vary so little, that while they can be easily found by the ear of the musician, they cannot readily be defined by the measure. l/Vhere the pianoforte is to be fitted with more than this number of octaves and notes, with the semitones, we intend to employ strings, for the lower notes, and we do not intend to limit ourselves to any given number of glass notes, when used in combination with strings, as we intend to add one, or more, octaves of glass notes, to any common pianoforte, according to the quality of the tone, and the capacity possessed by the particular instrument, for receiving glass notes, in addition to the strings; nor do we intend to restrict ourselves to using the glass notes, in one range, or tier, but to vary the positions, by placing the several octaves of notes in tiers, or layers, one above the other, so that we change the position of the glass; and we intend to place the glass notes, either above, or below the wire notes, and to strike the glass notes from either above, or below, as the conveniences of fitting the instrument may dictate, and we intend, in addition, to make the actio-ns operate, by one or more common pedals, so that the glass notes may be played alone, or the wire notes alone, or the glass and wire notes conjointly; and in cases, where either the sizes of the instrument, or the character of the sound required, may vary from those in common use, we intend to vary the scantlings of the glass notes, so as by making them larger, or smaller, to obtain the objects required, retaining the method of mounting and acting on them as described. Glass notes formed by double disks, of different sizes and scantlings, may hereafter be found available, either separately, or conjointly with notes formed by glass planes, but this mode of :forming the musical parts cannot be included in this specification, although it may become the subject of a future patent.

We do not intend to claim the use of glass for musical purposes, nor do we intend to claim the mode of fitting the action parts, shown in the drawings; but

le do claim as new, and of our own invention:

l. rlhe mode of mounting and adjusting the glass notes t, as shown in Fig. l, by the bearing or suspending bars a, and the small wire rods and nuts c, c, when applied to use, in pianofortes, having either an undery or over action, either separately, or in conjunction with wire or string notes.

2. The mode of mounting or suspending the glass notes shown in `Fig. 2 by the bearers e, or by 'the strings or wires z', in combination with the inode of retaining such notes in place by elastic glue, made as described, when applied to pianofortes, having a downward action, such glass notes, and mode of suspending and retaining, to be either used separately, or in conjunction with wire or string notes.

In witness whereof we have hereunto setour hands and seals in the city of New York, this twentieth day oli' November in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-three in the presence of the witnesses subscribing hereto.

OTTAVIAN@ GORI. [n s] PH. ERNST. [1.. s]

lWitnesses T. A. WAKEMAN, WVM. SERRELL. 

